Synopsis: Major agribusiness corporations, such as Monsanto, Cargill, ADM, and
Syngenta desire to fully control the global food system. Unfortunately for
them, they are held back by an image problem. As most people know, food
produced with their assistance is inferior in every respect. However, there is
one category in which they can plausibly claim superiority over other methods.
That superiority is yield. Consequently, agribusiness has directed intense
efforts at framing yield as the defining element of successful modern
agriculture. Most especially, they have tried to leverage this advantage into
a moral issue with their insistence that only food produced by industrial
methods can feed the world. These companies believe their very existence
depends on public acceptance of this claim.
The very interesting fact in this equation is that agribusiness’ claim
is entirely baseless. It can be easily shown that every continent has a
superabundance of food and, moreover, that the major threat to future food
production is industrial food production methods themselves. As a consequence,
those who oppose the global industrialisation of food and agriculture have a
massive political opportunity.
By revealing the food shortage lie they could collapse industrial
agriculture’s longstanding rationale and also its remaining public support.
This example could also show the way for a new mode of environmental and
social justice campaigning.